Decorative images are frequently applied to confections and food articles (i.e., comestible products), such as cakes, pastries, ice cream, and baked goods. Frequently, decorative images are borne on an edible substrate that is transferred to a surface of a food article to be decorated. The edible substrates are often thin, fragile layers of starch-based edible material. Such materials facilitate transfer of the decorative image to the surface of the food article without detracting from the texture or appearance of the original food article. Preferably, the edible substrates may be relatively durable so as to withstand the printing and transferring processes.
Edible substrates may be deposited onto a releasable backing paper or film to provide support throughout the printing process and to facilitate handling of the edible substrate. After the edible substrate is properly transferred to the food article, the backing paper may be peeled away to show the decorative image on the surface of the food article.
Edible substrates can be formed by depositing an edible formulation on a backing paper using “screen printing” process. In such processes, a screen fixture is positioned over the surface of the backing paper and the edible material is manually forced through a screen mesh using a squeegee or other similar device. The screen printing process can be used to apply a decorative image to a planar substrate for transfer to a planar target surface, such as the flat surface of a cake.
Applying a decorative image to a non-planar (i.e., three-dimensional) target surface is typically more laborious and time-consuming. Transferring a decorative image from release layer (i.e., a 2D surface) onto a non-planar surface (i.e., a 3D surface) can result in skewing or distortion of the decorative image, for example, due to raised areas on the non-planar surface distorting the originally 2D decorative image.
Accordingly, conventional techniques for applying a decorative image to a non-planar surface include hand painting a multi-colored image onto a relief mold surface using a pre-tempered colored chocolate, and thereafter filling the mold with a comestible material, such as chocolate, and, upon cooling, demolding the chocolate with the multi-colored image applied. The hand-painting technique is not conducive to mass production, due to the time and expense involved.